Dato’ Dr Hartini Zainudin, the co-founder of Yayasan Chow Kit, the nation’s first 24-hour child-crisis centre, is a woman on a mission, having dedicated three decades of her life towards the welfare of marginalised and displaced children. Other than providing them with basic needs, counselling and protection, Hartini is a renowned advocate of children’s rights who is also involved in law and policy reforms. Presently, the activist is a consultant for the Malaysian Red Crescent and an active fundraiser who has been busy on the frontlines of the pandemic, attending to the affected communities.
Hartini, who has on a special handmade necklace depicting her children’s drawings, said this in her acceptance speech, “I am a child activist, my world centers around children,” she said. “But over the years, I realised…